The geese fly south

Even as I write this several geese are honking overhead, the sound coming and going along with them. A welcome reminder of the nature beyond my apartment and beyond the town. On my way to the farm last week, I caught a glimpse of at least a hundred of them off to my left, settled and sifting through the stubble that remained in an already-harvested field. Yesterday, as we took the last horses from their runs to the paddocks, a large flock flew over, loud and many enough to catch our attention, even while our work requires us to be pretty darn focused on the animals at the end of our ropes and in our near spaces. Look! said my coworker, and I did: several V’s formed against the blue, against the last white beams of the sun as it slipped behind the mountains. Dark silhouettes with long necks and purposeful wings. It is time, and they always know.